212 THE MOLLUSK FISHERIES 



The same abuses which have nearly ruined the Swansea fishery have 

 begun here. Small seed clams are exported in considerable quantities 

 to supply the summer demand of the New Bedford and Fall River 

 districts. While this system has not yet made its ravages apparent, a 

 glance at the Swansea report will serve to convince the most casual 

 reader that unless some steps are taken to check this evil, the practical 

 annihilation of the Eastham clam industry must follow. As it is, local 

 legislation seems powerless to cope with the problem, and no laws of 

 any kind relating to the clam fishery are in force. 



Summary of Industry. 



Number of men, 36 



Capital invested, $250 



Value of shore property, 



Production, 1907: — 



Bushels, 4,000 



Value, $4,000 



Total area (acres) : — 



Sand, 100 



Mud, 50 



Gravel, 30 



Mussels and eel grass, 20 



Total, 200 



Productive area (acres) : — 



Good clamming, 25 



Scattering clams, 50 



Barren area possibly productive (acres), 100 



Waste barren area (acres), 25 



Possible normal production, $30,000 



Wellfleet. 



Although possessing extensive flats, Wellfleet produces at present 

 a relatively small amount of clams. The inhabitants realize that these 

 flats are capable of producing a large harvest of clams if properly 

 planted, and that in this way an extensive industry can be developed, 

 and have undertaken to restock the flats, appropriating in 1906 for this 

 purpose the sum of $1,000. 



At Billingsgate Island there are fair clam flats, but they are not 

 easily accessible, as they lie at a distance of 5 miles from town. Clams 

 can also be obtained in more or less abundance in the thatch which 

 borders the flats of Blackfish Creek, Herring River and Duck Creek. 

 A few clams are scattered over the flats of Blackfish Creek, particularly 

 toward the head of the creek. Two patches of clams covering perhaps 

 an acre are on the flats in front of the town: one in the stone and 

 gravel east of Commercial wharf; the other, a more extensive area, 

 just west of Mercantile wharf. 



Wellfleet possesses many acres of flats which, though now barren, 



